It's been about three months since I started feeding Lucky homemade dog food, so I decided it was probably time I posted an update. From what I hear, many people find this little endeavor of mine fascinating. (Not sure why...but..thanks!)
Not much really has changed in my ingredients except that I am adding in some diced hard boiled egg to each meal. See, I'm pretty sure he was losing weight by the second month, and that was one thing the vet said to watch for. Well, the cost of burger (protein) was killing me, and my freezer was full. So I went in search of other types of protein. I tried quinoa, but that stuff was awful to work with. Also, I'm pretty sure I saw almost all of what I put in the food come back out...if you know what I mean. So, the obvious thing that came to mind was egg. I did a little research in my books and online and found a 50/50 "eggs are bad" vs. "eggs are fine" argument. When in doubt, I go with any info that seems to repeat. Repeated info said that hard boiled eggs are fine, but to try to not feed more than 2 eggs/week. I boil up two eggs at a time, dice them up, and put them in a container. I usually put about 1-2 pinches in Lucky's bowl for each feeding. Since the "pinch" method is very unscientific, I usually boil two eggs about every 5-7 days. So, I'm probably pushing the "no more than 2/week" guidelines, but...meh.
Permit me to go off-track just a bit here.
Lucky had worms in the last week of June. We went to the vet, we got the meds, we killed the worms, boom. Thought it was isolated and moved on with my day. The last week of July, another reappearance of those damn parasites! Don't judge, but I was able to find the same prescription meds from June online without a prescription. I'm frugal. What can I say. Anyhoo...the meds came in the mail and we killed the worms...again. I got to thinking, though, if the homemade dog food was causing it. I'm aware of all the typical ways dogs pick up worms, and it didn't seem like it was possible. So, I started looking at the situation differently: Is Lucky getting worms because he's deficient in something with only homemade dog food in his diet? I know all the healthy/grain-free/limited-ingredient/expensive food isn't supposed to have any chemicals or preservatives or anything, but I just couldn't help wondering if this is why we suddenly have monthly parasites. I started looking at organic dewormer options. There are plenty out there, but something caught my eye: diatomaceous earth (food grade). I'll spare you the details as to what this is; I just linked to the product on Amazon. Basically, though, you can spread it on your lawn to kill parasites. It's also supposed to be amazing at getting rid of bedbugs. And consumed by a dog, it works as a dewormer. The container - which does not look like the picture on Amazon, by the way - says to give 1-2 tablespoons a day. I have erred on the side of caution and am probably only giving .5-1 tablespoons per day. I give him this in his evening meal.
He gets a GNC "pet" multivitamin with his morning meal. I tell ya...if you have a dog and money to burn, there is something out there for everything you can think of!
The only other new thing with Lucky's food extravaganza is that I've been supplementing his homemade food with Sojos. (Again, I'll spare you all the details. Just click the link.) This is basically a freeze-dried food that you just add water to to rehydrate. They make it with meat or without. I get the one with the meat. (Refer to second paragraph where I said the cost of meat was killing me.) The ingredients are great. Most are what I feed him anyway. It's not that expensive the way I use it. He gets 3 heaping tablespoons before I leave for work in the morning or about noon on days I'm not at work.
Bottom line...he still loves this. He loves everything I've done so far. He gets excited about eating. I think his energy level is better. My neighbor thinks his coat is shinier. And, most importantly, the poops are easy to pick up.
I listed some of my resources in the previous blog. Here are a few more I checked out from the library:
